Air cleaner



Dec. 28, 1943.

R. D. AcToN 2,337,728

AIR CLEANER Filed Feb. 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 28, 1943. R. nfAc'roN AIR CLEANER Filed Feb. 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Der.728, 1943 AmcLEANEn Russel D. Acton, Chicago,

national Harvester Company,

New Jersey lli., assigner to Intera corporation of Application February24, 1941, Serial No. 380,301

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an air cleaner. More specifically, it relatesto an air cleaner of the liquid contact type commonly known as the oilbath type.

In the use of air cleaners for internal combustion engines it has beenfound necessary to use a liquidwetted contact surface in orderA toobtain the necessary eiectiveness in removing the ne particles of dust.In cleaners of this type oil is usually mixed with the air stream priorto its contact with a iilter medium such as crimped wire wool orperforated screens. In cleaners of this type onev of the diiiicultieswhich has been encountered is the distribution of the oil throughout thecontact material- It is desira' ble to maintain a sufficient amount ofliquid in all parts of the vcontact material tov obtain an effectiveseparation of the dust from the air. At v the same time,.it is essentialthat the oil which is carried up with the air stream be separated out oithe voiror to additional incoming air.

The object oi the present invention is to provide an improved aircleaner of the liquid contact type inwhich oil-return means are providedfor returning a portion of the liquid at one location with respect tothe air stream and a second portion of the liquid to another locationwith respect to the air stream.

Another object is to provide in an air cleaner a liquid separation andreturn means for continuously removing liquid from the air stream at onelocation and delivering the liquid to opposite sides Vof an incoming airstream.

Another object is to provide a bame, or separator element, which isprovided with means ior delivering deflected or separated liquid in twoopposite directions.

l The above dened objects and others relating to constructional detailswill be apparent from the description to follow. 4

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an aircleaner embodying the inventionwith` two portions broken away to show the internal construction at thebottom of'the cleaner and at the top 'adjacent the outlet;

gure 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a partial sectional the line 33 'of Figure 1; v

Figure 4 is a se tional view similar. to the lower portion of Figure 1showing'a modiiied form oi the device. .1 4

The drawings illustrate a cleaner of a type view taken on air stream andreturned to the reserwidely used for tractor engines. A cylindricalcasing III, open at its bottom end, is secured at the top to a member IIhaving an extension I2 -at one side of the casing. A cylindricaldepending sleevelike portion I3 of the extension I2 provides means forattaching an outlet conduit which normally is connected to thecarburetor intake of the engine. A cover Il is secured' to the member IIproviding an outlet at the top of the casing. An inlet tube I5 extendsthrough an opening in the top of the cover Il and centrally through thecasing concentric with the vertical kwall of the casing. l

A cup I6 is secured to the open end bottom of the casing III, being ttedagainst an annular ange II provided on the casing. Said cup may besecured in position by any conventional means, being removable forcleaning and nlling with oil. A head I8 around the cup I6 indicates thenormal liquid level.

A plurality of b aiiles I9 which provide oil intercepting, deecting, andcollecting means, are

mounted in the annular space between the vertween the walls vtube thanto the wall tical wall of the casing and the inlet tube I5. Said baiesare annular in shape, each being provided with a down-turned outer ange2li and down-turned inner nange 2|. Such flanges are v intermittentlyspaced from the inlet tube, as shown at 22, and spaced from the casingwall, as shown at 23, to form liquid-return passages 2| at both theinner and outer edges of the baille. Each baille is provided with aplurality of radial slits 25 surrounded by upturned walls 26. The spacedwalls and the portions of the baille beorm channels in which separatedoil may flow out of the direct path of the air stream. This type ofbaille is shown in the Baker et al. Patent 2,199,019. In said patentthebaflles are conical, extending in one direction only. In the deviceconstituting this invention thebaiiies slope in two directions from anintermediate point whereby a portion of the separated liquid isdelivered in each direction. In the device shown in Figures ll, 2, and 3thekdivide in the arched bailles is closer to casing than to the inlettube. separation of oil was equal'over of the baiiie inthisconstruction, of liquid would be'deliveredadjacent the air inlet ofthe casing. The exact location of the divide in the baille membersdepends upon the characteristics of the particular cleaner and therelation between the amount of oil desired at the inner and outer walls.Adjacent the inlet tube I5 near the bottom Providing the the entire areaa larger amount the wall of the l thereof, an annular member 21-issecured in spaced relation by means of indented portions 28 which may bewelded or otherwise secured to the air inlet tube. This member providesend chanprotected from ugh which oil collected adjacent the air inlet4totana the Contact materia. The bottom of the t air inlet tube I isslightly ared outwardly tov end 'f the liquid flow conduit provided bythe member 2l andthe inlet tube I5. l

A deilector 29 is mounted in the casing at the bottom of the 'air inlettube, being spaced thereto providea passage-for the ow of air. Saidmember has a iiat bottom opening 30 through which oil is delivered 30 inthe member 29. .This construction permits introduction of liquid at twopoints in the air flows into the air stream The member 29 is'heldextending to the lower stream and assures thorough mixing. It isparticularly important to deliver liquid to they air stream adjacent thebottom 'of theair inlet tube, as liquid delivered at this point through-the air stream whereby there is a better opportunity for .its beingentrained in the air stream than liquid owing through an inlet in abaille wall such as the opening 30. 'I'he mador portion of' the liquidinserted in this manner tends to stay on vthe outside of the air streamwhereby. it is not uniformly distributed throughout the contactmaterial, In the operation of the cleaner, the oil delivered to .thecasing wall flows downwardly back finto-the oil reservoir formed bythecup I6 whereby the static condition of the oil permits the dirt tosettle out before the oil is delivered backv into the' air streamthrough the openings 30.

cured direcny to the bottom of the -011 cup ls extending upwardly'outward direction and terminating substantially at the normal staticliquid level. This construction is shown in the Lowther Patent2,000,706. The i'unctioninghere is somewhat diil'erent than in themodiiication rst described. As the baille 33 is lower than turningadjacent the casing wall builds up and overows the top of the baille 33into the incoming air stream. By the arched baille. construction, oil isalso returned, by positive ow means to the inlet tube and delivereddownwardly whereby said liquid is discharged into the incoming airstream adjacentthe air inlet tube. By means .of arched baies having oilconducting high velocity air iiow` somewhat at an angle in an theoperating oil level', oil re' amount of oil to provided with an cleanerand provides a to the outer wall of the in this construction that the isshown closer to the inlet tube than to the casing wall. The exactlocation of this divide depends upon the characteristics of theparticular means whereby a cleaner can be constructed to deliver themost eiective the air stream at the desired divide in the battleslocation. Openings 34 may be provided -in the lower oil to the space topof the baille. As shown in Figure 2, the member II at the top of thecasing is provided with a plurality of outlet openings 35. It will benoted that these charged from the cleaner.

tends to fall cleaner.. At the same openings are spaced relatively farapart adja- 25 cent the'outlet side of the cover I4, and that theyorder, to sustain action up to the time the air is dis- For this reason,an eiective oil-separating and returning means is necessary to obtainthe maximum cleaning of the air. It is, however, a very importantconsideration to separate out all 'of the oil before the air isdischarged, as otherwise-oil is carried over into the engine depletingthe supply 0f oil in the reservoir of the cleaner. It has been foundthat if the cleaning an opening of uniform cross section is provided themost direct route with the result that the velocity is increasedadjacent the discharge opening tending to carry oil over and out of thetime, a more static condition of flow results in the section of thecleaner farthest away from the outlet. This necessitates more separatingelements and at increased height in the cleaner Aas it is not equallyeiective around the entire annular area. Ioovercome this ob- 'jectionand to obtain air ilow and oil separation.

a more even distribution of openings as shown in Figure 2 have beenprovided. By means of/such openings the resistance to air ow issubstantially equal .at all points around the annular casing. Thisconstruction gives a uniformy oil and air flow and oil separation up tothe 'discharge of the air from the casing.

It is understood that applicant has shown and described only twopreferred embodiments of his improved air cleaner construction, but thathe claims as his invention all-modications falling within the scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

.1. An air cleaner comprising a cylindrical cas- `ing open at its lowerend, anl oil reservoir tted aid lower end,

spaced annular bailles mounted in the annular space between the airinlet tube and the casing, said -baiiies extending downwardly in twoaular the central portions thereof, portions of the lower edges of thebaiiles terminating in slightly spaced relation with respect to the-inlet conduit terminating in .baiiies extending inlet tube terminatingthe inlet tube and outwardly to the vwall of the casing to thereby formoil-return passages. and said baiiles being formed with radial slits andwith upturnd iianges adjacent the slits at each side thereof to provideoil-return tending in both directions from the central portions.

2. An air an oil reservoir at cleaner comprising a casing having itslower end, a central air series of spaced baiiies mounted in the spacebetween the a'ir inlet conduit and the casing, said downwardly from thecentral portions thereof ,portions of the lower edges of the baiilesrelation with respect to the casing to form cilreturn passages, `andsaid bailles being formed with radial slits and with flanges adjacentthe slits at each side thereof to provide oil-return means extending inboth directions from the .central portion. l,

3. In an air cleaner construction having van outer cylindrical outlet'atthe top thereof, an inner central vair inlet tube terminating above thebottom of :he casing, the bottom of said casing adapted toform a liquidreservoir, and, in combination therewith, spaced annular contactelements extending between `the air inlet tube and the casing wall, eachof said elements being sloped downwardly in both directions fromanintermediate zone and being formed with radial slits and upturnedflanges adjacenttothe slits to eiiect liquid conveying channelsextending in both directions from said intermediate zone whereby liquidcollected out of the air stream by said elements is delivered inwardlyto the wall of the outwardly to the wall of the casing.

4. In an air cleaner construction having an outer cylindrical casingprovided with an air outlet at the top thereof, an inner central airabove the bottom of the casing, the bottom of said casing adapted toform a liquid reservoir, and in combination therewith, spaced annularcontact elements extending between the air inlet tube and the casingwall, each -of said elements beingsloped downwardly in both directionsfrom an intermediate zone and being formed with liquid conveyingchannels extending in both directions from said intermediate zonewhereby liquid collected'out of the air stream by said elements isdelivered inwardly to the wall of the reservoir, and aV inlet tube andchannels exin two. directions terminating in spaced casing provided withan air casing, and an ann in the reservoir,

wardly toward the tube and the casing whereby ular member spaced aroundthe bottom of the inlet tube extending upwardly to the contact elementsto provide anoil return out of the flow of air adjacent the contactelements and into the flow of air at thebottomof the inlet tube.

5. An air cleaner comprising a cylindrical casing having an oilreservoir at its lower end, a central air inlet tube terminating in thereservoir spaced from the bottom of the casing, an oil cup having abottom wall between the end of the inlet tube and the bottom upwardlyextending side wall between the air inlet tube and the casing wall, saidoil cup having an opening at the bottom for the inlet of oil andextending upwardly above the operating oil lever a plurality of' annularbailies mounted in the space between the inlet tube and the casing wall,said baiiies bei@ arched upwardly intermediate the tube and the casingand being formed with a plurality of radial slits and turnedoverportions adjacent to the slits to effect liquid conveying channelsprotected from the air stream iiowing through the casing and extendingdownliquid collected by the bafiies is delivered both to the said tubeand to said wall.

6. An air cleaner comprising a cylindrical casan oil reservoir at inlettube terminating inthe reseran upwardly inlet tube and the casing wall,said oil cup having an opening at the bottom of the inlet of oil andextending upwardly above the operating oil level in the reservoir, aplurality of -annular baiiles mounted in the space between the inlettube and the casing wall, said baflles being arched upwardlyintermediate the tube and the casing and being formed with liquidconveying channels extending downwardly toward the tube and the casingwhereby liquid collected by the baiiles is delivered both to the saidtube and to said wall, and said baiiies being provided with edgeportions spaced from the inlet tube and the casing wall at intervalstoprovide passages for the return fiow of oil. RUSSEl.. D. ACTON.

of the casing and an its lower end, av

